The Land Transportation Office debunked a social media user’s claim that the agency took a distorted photo of him when he renewed his driver’s license.
In a Facebook post, the LTO said the camera used for taking drivers’ pictures did not malfunction.
Moreover, the pictures stored in its database have security features preventing it from being distorted.
The agency also shared the original picture of the social media user who has his non-professional driver’s license renewed.
Joke gone wrong
The clarification came after a certain Victor Paul Icuspit alleged in a now-deleted post that the agency distorted his picture by using a supposedly defective camera.
While Icuspit praised the agency’s “fast” renewal process, he claimed that it allegedly printed a picture of him with expanded cheeks and lips.
His post eventually became viral that it was picked by various Facebook pages.
The post reached the government agency which prompted it to investigate the matter.
The LTO, later on, discovered that Icuspit only edited his picture “for fun” using an online photo warping tool.
According to the agency, Icuspit released an apology and asked for a Facebook page and other social media users to delete the post they had shared.
However, Icuspit deleted his own admission more than an hour after.
One of the pages that initially shared his post apologized to social media users as well. Part of its statement reads:
“One of (the page) admin copied the post of a certain Victor Paul Isaguirre Icuspit regarding his new LTO ID, Icuspit admitted that he just edited it for fun. The head admin of Pinoy History (deleted) the original post immediately.”
“Magsilbing aral po sana ito sa’ting lahat na hindi lahat ng nakikita nating post sa social media ay totoo at sana po’y ‘wag mag-edit ng bagay na hindi naman totoo, lalo na’t nakasalalay ang ating pangalan at reputasyon dahil ito pa minsan ang magpapahamak sa’tin.”
The page also shared a picture of Icuspit’s message to them that explained why he did such an action in the first place.
“Pasensya po, ‘di po ‘yun totoo. ‘Yung idea na ‘yun (ginaya) ko lang po sa isang post din. Kaso (‘di ko) na mahanap kung sino ang nag-post (nun),” Icuspit wrote.
Nevertheless, he was summoned by the LTO to its office to discuss the issue.
“The agency asks netizens not to share the said post. It also emphasizes that official documents, such as the driver’s license, should not be tampered with. Doing so has legal consequences,” the LTO said in a post.
As of this writing, it is undetermined whether Icuspit has been sanctioned or not.
Under the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, it is illegal to “make one or more false or fraudulent statements in an application for the registration of vehicles, or for a driver’s license” knowingly or with the intent to deceit.
It is also prohibited to make a driver’s license “in imitation or similitude of those issued” by the government agency.
